


Finding light beyond the dark.

by Fangirlqueen87



Category: Emmerdale, robron
Genre: F/M, M/M, Robert is a comforting marshmallow, Robert trying to make Belle see that she will find happiness again, affair talk, rob&belle bonding!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 06:00:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,662
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7347988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fangirlqueen87/pseuds/Fangirlqueen87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You had an affair with Aaron didn't you?" Her voice was filled with this weird sense of hope. It wasn't a question really but more like a confirmation and Robert didn't know what to say.</p><p>Or </p><p>Robert helps Belle realise that comparing affairs and their outcomes isn't the way forward and that moving on is for the best instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Finding light beyond the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> So I just really liked the idea of Belle having this idea that the outcome of her affair with Jermaine eventually being could result in something like what Aaron and Robert have, basically being happy and super domestic. I think naturally her mind would think about other affairs and compare and considering that she was living at the pub for a lil while I think that she would have been even more interested and hopeful about her and Jermaine together. 
> 
> For the sake of the fic I have completely ignored the ridiculousness of a fake pregnancy and instead have said that Jermaine just basically was stringing Belle along until he eventually just ran off without telling Belle and leaving her heartbroken. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy this ;)

Robert's eyes widened as he walked into the living room and his eyes fell on Belle, she was sitting there in the dead of night with her legs pulled tightly to her stomach. Robert didn't know what to do, standing on the spot and still dying for a glass of water but hesitant because he had completely forgotten that the troubled teen was sleeping on the sofa rather than in her own house.

Robert had hardly seen her really, whenever he was back from work she was upstairs in Liv's room gossiping away to her and Robert was always thankful for the peace he and Aaron could get.

The realisation that he was now living with two teenagers girls was something he hadn't ever imagined - well maybe if they were his own. Aaron didn't seem to like it anymore than Robert did yet as Robert pointed out, he couldn't complain about his own family whereas Robert had every right apparently. He didn't though, not really because Belle was at that age where she was fully aware that loud music and mess was pretty annoying and she wasn't like that, she was quiet, reserved somewhat and Robert didn't push her because he was aware of what was happening. Staying at the pub made it easy for Robert to get the gossip all about that Dr messing around with her, Aaron had been livid and only Robert could calm him down and make him see that _they didn't need another Cain on the loose._

  
Things had cleared up though and the Dr had moved away, ran basically and left Belle heartbroken.

  
Robert had no sympathy for the Dr or even Belle at first but then seeing her sitting there, obviously not being able to sleep and almost haunted by what had happened.

Belle twisted her body round seeing a glimmer of light enter the room and feeling her heart beat faster because she wasn't in the mood for a late night chat with Charity.

  
Her face relaxed slightly as she saw Robert standing there awkwardly, he was ruthless and had a nasty side apparently but all she really saw was a bloke who for some reason _really_ loved her cousin Aaron.

"Sorry I just wanted to get a glass of water, do you want me to leave you on your own though?" Robert was used to this voice, the soft and gentle one reserved for Victoria and Liv.

  
Belle sniffed softly and gestured for Robert to come further into the room "No it's fine."

  
Robert walked briskly towards the kitchen sink, downing the water and then resting the glass back down on the counter. The air was thick with silence and then Robert was looking back at Belle wanting to at least ask if she was okay, but he didn't. He could see that she was almost thinking about something hard, he could almost hear the clogs ticking away and then she was frowning at him.

  
"You had an affair with Aaron didn't you?" Her voice was filled with this weird sense of hope. It wasn't a question really but more like a confirmation and Robert didn't know what to say.

  
Robert gulped hard as he leaned against the counter facing her and nodding his head "Yeah I did." To say it aloud now felt odd, to think that Aaron and his life now sprung from hot needy passion almost didn't do their relationship justice.

  
Belle was rubbing at her eyes and then stopped, shrugging her shoulders as she let out a deep sigh and said "And that worked out didn't it? I mean you're happy now, both of you."

  
Robert let out a small sigh knowing where she was going with this and needing her to see that her and doctor Bailey couldn't be compared to what Aaron and Robert shared "Belle listen to me, just because we managed to get back on track dosent meant that -"

  
"I'm not saying it will _definitely_ work but...imagine if you just gave up on tryna get back with our Aaron, you wouldn't be together now would you?" Belle's voice was suddenly a tad more desperate as if she just _needed_ her jumbled thoughts to make the slightest bit of sense.

  
Robert hesitated realising that she was right in a sense, if he had given up on trying to be there for Aaron and just moved on then he would have never been this happy, this content with his life. A life where he had Aaron clinging to his body at night and kissing him gently and making him feel _safe_.

  
"You're right, but -"

  
"I'm a kid." Belle rolled her eyes and sighed, "Yeah that's what everyone says."

  
Robert gulped hard and smiled at her "Age dosent matter when it comes to love, I mean it took me _months_ and _months_ to fully accept what I felt for Aaron and I'm thirty."

  
Belle laughed a little, a smile that Robert hadn't seen.

  
"But when you love someone Belle...you're not supposed to make them...them hide it all, trust me it shouldn't be a secret, none of it." Robert felt regret crawl over him, the way he had made Aaron believe that what they had wasn't ' _a love story_ ' when Aaron had confessed he was in love with him on his wedding day.

  
Belle shook her head and sighed "Isn't that what you did to our Aaron for _months?_ "

  
Robert walked towards Belle and sat on the chair near the table "It's my biggest regret Belle, Aaron knows that." _I hope_ "Does Jermaine regret making you hide it all, say that you were _stalking_ him instead just to keep his perfect life?"

  
Belle shuddered at the words and turned away making Robert feel guilty. "God Belle I didn't mean to -"

  
Belle turned back round and sighed "He said he loved me." Her words were filled with such sadness, she was _heartbroken_ and suddenly he couldn't help but wonder who Aaron had turned to when Robert had _hurt_ him over and over again. Paddy, probably. It would explain the hate even more. Robert wasn't close to Belle but even he seemed to hate Jermaine for making her _hurt_ so badly.

  
"People say a lot of things Belle when they want someone, I'm sure he did...you know...want you but not in the way you think, he would have never left her -" Robert said softly as Belle met his eyes again.

  
Belle looked towards the floor "You know when I heard about you and Aaron...I thought he was stupid getting with you when you'd never leave her, and I just did the same. I just couldn't help myself, it's probably in the blood eh." She said looking back up to Robert and shaking her head quickly.

  
Robert latched onto the words ' _he was stupid getting with you when you'd never leave her...'_ and his stomach _twisted_ slightly because the reality was harsh and almost stunned him slightly. Robert had imagined his life with Chrissie over and over again sometimes, well more like a life without Aaron in it. Coming home from that lodge, holding her and making love to his wife to try and eradicate the pain he felt and had caused. On the way back from the lodge he drove shakily through the country lanes wondering what he could do next, he was filled with conflicting emotions because he knew that he couldn't stay in that village with Aaron _hating_ him and _knowing_ what he knew. Yet the very thought of leaving with Chrissie and never seeing Aaron again made him _weep_ and completely break down, the thought of never seeing Aaron's face again, never able to _hold_ him.

Robert had spent what felt like hours debating it all and then Aaron was there _spilling_ out the entire mess and he was breathing out a sigh of almost relief, because it was over but then panicking because suddenly he had _nothing_ left at all.

  
Robert shuddered. A life where Aaron never said a word to Chrissie was one of the most frightening thoughts imaginable. A life almost _trapped_ in a world he knew he was _never_ truly apart of.

  
"Listen Belle, when...when Aaron _did_ tell her...I felt like I had lost everything in the world." Belle looked up at Robert and kept her gaze "A part of me hated him but then...then I had this...this _relief_ because it was over and it was out...eventually I realised I didn't hate him at all, I _loved_ him and I wanted him back. From what I hear Belle, Jermaine was angry and...he strung you along until he could get out of here and then he left you without a word. He was hardly...hardly -"

  
"He was sorry! I know he was okay." Belle let the words spill out angrily, "He was sorry that we had to wait so long for us to be together, he told me that."

  
Robert shook his head and sighed, "Belle and then he ran off without a word to ya, and you still love him?"

  
Belle hesitated for a second before biting her lip, "Everyone in the village thought Aaron could have _killed_ ya, but yet he actually loved ya...just goes to show you can't control how you feel about someone. I can't control it, I love him."

  
Robert could see the pain she was filling and again thought about Aaron and how tortured he must have felt when Robert _pushed_ him down and all he wanted to do was _love_ him.

  
"You made it work, you didn't even have control of everyone finding out. You didn't make it your choice and yet you _still_ found a way of being happy together." Belle almost sounded bitter by her words.

  
Robert bit down on his lip "Yeah because our relationship was just built from _rainbows_ and _sunshine_. Belle you said it yourself people thought he could have _killed_ me. It's hardly like we ended things amicably, I _broke_ him Belle." He suddenly stopped himself because thinking about all that pain made him want to cry.

  
"And yeah we managed to get ourself back to where we are now, happier than we've ever been but that's because he gave me another chance -"

  
Belle's eyes widened "I could give him another chance, like Aaron did with you - he didn't regret doing it did he -"

  
Robert sighed hard "Belle he dosent _want_ you to give him another chance though does he." Thick silence filled the air all of a sudden and Belle looked towards the floor.

"It took _months_ to get Aaron to trust me again, to admit that he wanted to be with me...and it worked out because I never just ran away, I didn't give in and I fought for what we could have...Jermaine isn't doing that is he?" Robert's voice was soft and slow again and Belle was suddenly wiping away her tears and sighing.

  
"He isn't coming back is he?" Belle mumbled through her tears and suddenly Robert was walking towards her and shaking his head honestly "I'm sorry love." He whispered before feeling her stretch out her arms and clutch onto him tightly, she was still crying but more gently now as she rested against Robert's shoulder.

  
"You'll meet someone Belle, you'll fall in love with someone who is worth your love." Robert whispered as Belle pulled away from him slowly and shook her head in disbelief.

  
"I mean it." Robert added to make her see sense.

  
"I have to forget about him, can't just keep thinking affairs _can_ work out because of you and our Aaron."

  
Robert gulped hard because loosely it was the truth, what they had now was a product of a passionate heartbreaking affair that ending dramatically. He could understand why Belle almost used their relationship as a positive thing to think about whenever Jermaine entered her mind.

  
"You know most of the time affairs just... _end_ and someone gets heartbroken and that's just it. I'm a lucky man to have Aaron still love me enough to make things work." Robert said meaning every word and making Belle nod.

  
"Maybe Jermaine will look back in a few years and regret, _regret_ not telling you to run away and have a life together...but by then Belle you'd have moved on entirely...be happier and all this...it will mean _nothing_ to ya...he'll just be a bloke from ya past who didn't think you were it worth it enough to stick around and fight for." Robert said the words cooly before gently stroking Belle's cheek and whispering "No more tears over that _prick_ okay?"

  
Belle's heart almost exploded suddenly as she felt how _gentle_ Robert could be, how calm he had made her and how everything seemed to be better now that they had talked. Lachlan had said awful things about him, she had believed them once. But now she didn't. Maybe he was this sneaky manipulate man to those he didn't give a toss about, but Belle could tell that when it came to people Robert _cared_ about, he was this gentle giant with this smooth voice and soft eyes and Aaron was a lucky man too.

  
"Thank you for not talking to me like I'm some stupid kid." Belle smiled and Robert nodded his head almost instantly "God yeah I know what that feels like...people thinking _you_ don't know what _you_ want." He tutted and made her smile even wider.

  
"No more tears." Belle said patting her thigh and nodding her head.

  
Robert smiled softly "I'm glad to hear it." He said getting up and patting her on the shoulder before walking towards the door, somehow he had made this break through with another member of Aaron's family and it hadn't felt _rushed_ or _forced_ , if anything it was almost _natural_ to care for her, for anyone who Aaron _loved_.

 

"Night Belle." He mumbled receiving a "Night Robert," in return.

 

*

 

The next day Belle almost looked completely different, her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and she had a rosy blush back in her cheeks.

  
"You look loads better." Aaron couldn't help but comment and smile as Robert was leaving that morning for work. Robert kissed Aaron's cheek quickly and then winked at Belle as he left.

  
"Yeah well I had a word with Robert last night..." Belle said moving towards Aaron.

  
Aaron's eyes widened nearly chocking on his piece of toast " _My_ Robert?" He said before smiling because _Jesus my Robert sounded so domestic._

  
Belle nodded her head "He was great actually, made things make sense. I'm not waiting around for him anymore. He's a loser who's not worth my tears."

  
Aaron raised an eyebrow because hearing how determined she sounded was so refreshing. "And Robert told ya that then?"

  
"No unlike everyone else he made me _realise_ that, didn't just  _tell_ me. I mean I thought that you and him were the perfect example of a couple that could be happy afterwards...I didn't really realise how much _time_ and _effort_ had to be put in to make you _trust_ him again...he reckons he's a lucky man." She said with a glint in her eye.

  
Aaron scoffed before smiling at Belle "Yeah he is...".

  
Belle rolled her eyes before heading towards the door and picking up her bag "I'm off into town with my mates, I'll be going back to mum's tonight too." She said cooly making Aaron nod because she was finally seeing sense and it was down to his beautiful surprising boyfriend.

  
"Oh and by the way, you're lucky too." Belle let out before slamming the door shut and leaving Aaron standing there smiling like an idiot because he was _so_ lucky.

 

Robert making an effort with his family and their issues was the most heartwarming thing he could think of, God he'd have to _really_ thank him later.

 


End file.
